Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum

Edward Bramah was a tea taster and commodity broker who established this fascinating museum in the 1990s.

Housed in a former tea warehouse, the small museum shows coffee and tea as drinks and commodities. The history of tea and coffee drinking is illustrated, showing the role of tea and coffee drinking in British society.

Coffee first arrived in London in the 1640s and was popular among the brokers and traders of the City. Within 30 years coffee houses had become the unofficial trading centres, particularly for the developing insurance trade.

The world's biggest insurance market, Lloyd's of London, takes its name from Edward Lloyd's coffee house in Tower Street, where underwriters and shipowners met to arrange marine insurance contacts.

Coffee was considered to be a man's drink and for many years women were banned from coffee houses.

Ladies were expected to drink tea, which arrived in Europe at around the same time as coffee. Charles II's wife, Catherine of Braganza, made tea popular in London, allowing the development of the East India Company's tea trade with China.

The museum has an impressive collection of coffee-pots and teapots, including the world's largest, holding 800 cups, and there is a collection of over 400 biscuit barrels.

Taste the real thing in the cafe or buy samples from its tea and coffee shop.

The Museum is closed for refurbishment until early 2009.